Storage in Your Home: Making Use of Every Space

How to maximise the space in your home

No matter how neat and tidy you try to keep your home, sometimes there just comes a point where there is not enough space to store everything you own! If this is one of your biggest problems right now, take a look at some of our nifty storage solutions ideas that might just lead to you finding the nooks and crannies that are being under-utilised in your home.

Your home probably has loads of undiscovered potential storage space that you just aren’t aware of at the moment and maximising these opportunities could be the key to your calm and collection home environment. So whether you go bespoke or use shop bought furniture, we’ve identified the 4 places where you’re going to find this elusive storage space.

UNDER

How to Make Your Kitchen Seem Bigger

Tips & Tricks on Maximising Space

In days of yore, the kitchen somehow seemed less important than it ranks today. Now, the kitchen is regarded as the centre of the home, regardless of where in the home layout it is located. This has caused many a renovation across the UK. Today’s families not only prepare and eat food in their kitchen but they are likely to entertain in this multi-purpose room.

The kitchen is truly a Renaissance room, something for everyone and multi-purposed to serve every family member. With all this appeal and utilitarian functionality, it is understandable that space is a top priority. In fact, a crowded kitchen will always be inefficient and will discourage guests from enjoying this centre of family life. If we think of our kitchen as the heart of the home and family, we recognise the importance of keeping it neat, clean and organised.

Adding Space Without Adding Square Feet

For many experienced homeowners, the ability to add space without adding square feet is a big challenge. But, when we master this task, we make our home more functional, more entertaining and increase our chance of putting out the best meals possible in comfortable an area as possible.

Adding space without adding square feet can be accomplished with good organisational skills, some sharp interior design ideas and maintaining discipline in the kitchen.

Step 1  – To add space or the appearance of space, commit to keeping the counters free of clutter. While you are at it, add clutter-free drawers. Every item in our kitchen must have a home and that is where these items must always be placed and replaced after use. Once you have made this commitment, you will have stacks of goods that need a home. Have no fear, finding the space for these items is our next task.

How To Build Brick Patio Steps

Your patio is only as practical as the steps leading to this special spot for relaxation and entertainment. You can build steps from brick, wood or stone. Brick is the most universally used median because it is sturdy and goes well with any style deck. For a temporary solution, you can dry stack brick but for a more permanent you must choose to do the task yourself or hire a contractor.

Building more permanent brick steps requires a few basic tools and supplies. The do-it-yourselfer benefits because the construction of brick steps is a pretty simple step-by-step exercise that can have long-lasting enjoyment to your patio.

Mirrors: Making Your Home’s Interior Bigger

Creating Space

It’s a well-known adage that ‘mirrors make rooms like bigger’ but the question really is… how? Simply having a mirror anywhere in your interior isn’t going to instantly have that effect, it’s all about strategic placement so here are our best tips for using mirrors to make your interior look and feel bigger.

Thin Rooms

For thin rooms, turn a long skinny mirror on its side and hang at eye level. This creates the illusion of a wider room and immediately draws your attention upwards, away from the limited floor space.

This example really show the variety of styles this simple trick can lend itself to.

You can go for a statement antique look such as the above or you could opt for a purely utilitarian option such as the hallway example – whatever your style, make use of this nifty tip because it’ll definitely add feet of room to your… room!

Short Rooms

For short rooms, use floor length mirrors that are taller than they are wide to give the illusion of height. If you don’t have a completely free wall on which to prop the mirror, place it behind some furniture such as an armchair or a side table, so that the length can still be seen but it’s not so dominating.

When Is The Best Time To Buy A New Home?

Timing Your Investment

Buying a house is a well-considered undertaking that requires planning and a good understanding of the marketplace. For many people, purchasing a home represents the biggest single financial holding in their portfolio.

In the UK, more new homebuyers are coming to market due to the increasingly popular Help to Buy schemes introduced by the government to boost the housing market and assist young people in getting on the housing ladder. Help to Buy allows qualified applicants to purchase new or existing property with relatively low deposits, with the help of a government-backed loan. This is in contrast to having to wait until the buyer has saved 20 percent of the purchase price as a deposit.

Help to Buy has brought new buyers to the market but has also helped boost prices of property across Britain. However, if 2008 has taught us anything, it is that home prices do not consistently rise forever. Buying smart is still important.

Develop Your Property Investment Portfolio With Glazed Extensions

Property Investment Trends

Residential real property values in the UK are on the mend. That’s the good news for an industry and sector of the economy that has been fairly volatile in recent years. The bad news is that homeowners who survived the 2008 housing crunch are disenchanted with selling and relocating. The current trend for existing homeowners is to hold on to what they have and improve their property.

Some homeowners are still underwater and owe more than the value of their property. Others suffer from a general lack of confidence in real property and rather than take losses in the immediate future are finding ways to make their home more to their liking.

Current real property trends were recently published by ratedpeople.com who surveyed 2,000 homeowners to evaluate their real estate interests and activity. The results could be interpreted as surprising by traditional standards but perhaps should be expected after the housing market volatility of 2008.

Changing Dynamic

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the ratedperople.com survey was the shift from the old real estate guiding principle of location, location, location as the top priority. Today, the biggest concern of existing homeowners and their families is living space.

The second most important concern is room size. Most UK homeowners are struggling with space and with room size and consider these factors more important than location. The cost of homes in what are generally considered the “best locations” may be influencing the idea of relocating. Also, with construction costs and interest rates favouring the consumer, the idea of adding more space and bigger rooms makes financial sense.

Ideas For Your Extension

Throughout the UK, the home extension is being embraced with fresh enthusiasm. Economical, affordable, efficient and ultimately valuable, the home extension is a popular proposition. The goals of most home extensions are to add light and space, and to make the residence feel more inviting. When these goals are accomplished, the value of the residence inevitably increases by more than the cost of the extension.

Today, the insulation properties of the windows and doors, ceilings and floors makes it especially appealing to consider an extension that is proven to use a responsible amount of energy. This is a primary consideration. However, extensions are also a reflection of the changing dynamic of the British household, where the kitchen has become the “living area” and centrepiece of the home.

Space Planning to Prepare For Your Home Extension

Market factors and economic trends suggest there is financial and practical merit to extending your home rather than moving home. Purchasing a home generally involves selling the property, finding and purchasing another and also physically moving all our possessions from one home to another. There are easier choices and the most popular is extending the residence.

Before moving home, homeowners need to systematically evaluate all the factors. School districts tend to be a major consideration but there are others. Quality of life considerations, community support services and of course personal finances. Moving home is rife with short and long-term expenditures.

Home Extension Trends For 2014

The Outlook For 2014

Prompted by an uncertain property market, and arguably, more work-at-home families – home extensions are on the rise in the UK. Homeowners who are satisfied where they live and already located in areas that can support the added value afforded by an extension are opting to extend rather than relocate. Interest rates are improving and for most of people packing, moving, and changing schools is problematic – so extending the existing property is often more favourable than a big move.

For many extensions, the government has established new guidelines. However, if you are adding a ground-level extension, you can add up to 50 cubic metres, as long as the structure does not exceed 4 metres above ground and is not greater than 10 percent of the existing floor plan without approval by the local planning authority.

Security Tips: Entry & Exit Security For The Home

UK homeowners need to be especially wary of burglaries and home invasions during the darker period of the year. Every home defence system begins with securing the entries and exits of the residence. This includes front and back doors, sliding glass doors, windows and garage doors as well as securing any outbuildings.

Effective home security starts with dedicated homeowners who have the discipline and willingness to discourage illegal entry through some common sense techniques, and security entry points is a sensible place to begin.

Securing Your Doors

Statistics show that many home burglaries are enabled by poor locking devices and unstable front doors or back doors. It has been suggested by many reports that, if possible, burglars like to use the front door. It is near the street or driveway where the can pull a van up to the house, enter and walk goods right to the getaway vehicle and be gone in a matter of minutes.